I had to admit, when I saw Nate throw a punch at Tyler I felt a sick sense of satisfaction that I wasn't the only one who despised the jerk. But things quickly began to get serious as Nate now held a broken beer bottle and Tyler was waving a stick of fire about like a caveman. Half of me was tempted to go in and help Nate, but I knew it wasn't my fight. 

'Bring it,' Nate inveigled. 

Jade rushed forward and I instantly knew what a big mistake she had made. The look in Tyler's eyes, mixed with his obvious intoxication, meant that he wasn't to be messed with right now. He was too caught up in the fight, ready and waiting for danger. He cursed at Jade and shoved her aside. I rushed by her side, helping her off the broken glass she had fallen onto.

Scooping her up easily into my arms, I took her away from the fight with Stewart following close behind. Jade was close to tears and I ignored the flare of anger I felt towards Tyler. Hopefully Nate will deal with him.

'Come on Jade,' I smiled. 'Try and hold back your tears you brave little girl.'

She tried to laugh at my patronizing tone. 'Don't mock me Charlie. You can put me down now.'

'In this state? Good heavens Jade! What kind of a man do you take me for?' 

She made a sort of hmphh noise before accepting her fate and folding her arms. I followed Stewart up off the beach and set Jade down on the grass behind one of the beach huts. It was a lot darker here and we couldn't see the damage that the glass had done, but Stewart tried to illuminate our surroundings with his phone. 

'Well you've definitely got glass stuck in there. Want me to try and pick it out? I have some tweezers with me.'

'Why do you have tweezers?' I snorted.

'You never know.'

I raised my eyebrows but said no more. 

'No,' Jade shook her head vigorously. 'It's gonna hurt.'

'I can't promise that it won't... but it's either this or the hospital. There's only a few pieces and they're shallow. Come on Jade, be brave.'

She heaved a sigh. 'Fine. Just get it over and done with.' 

We spent the next ten minutes or so carefully picking bits of broken glass out of Jade's skin, her wincing with each pinch, the grip she had on my hand tightening. When Stewart had finished, she sagged with relief. I ran to a nearby shop to get some medical supplies (painkillers and bandages - painkillers because Jade is a complete wuss). 

'Are you sure it won't get infected?' she fretted. 

'It shouldn't do...' Stewart replied doubtfully.

'Right, I'll be back in a second.' I stood up.

'Where are you going?'

'I'm just gonna go beat the $%*# out of Tyler, it shouldn't take too long.'

'NO!' Stewart and Jade's protest coincided with one another. Stewart jumped up to grab my arm. Jade took a little longer, but the effort was still there.

'That is the last thing that you are going to do! The psycho had a stick of fire for crying out loud!' 

'I know Stew. But he hurt Jade.' I jogged off, silently preparing myself for my confrontation with Tyler. I was incredibly protective of those who were close to me and the fact that he had caused Jade so much pain made me want to return the favour back to him. Stewart was right, Tyler was a definite psycho, but this didn't stop me. In fact, I was in the mind-set that nothing was going to stop me. 

Until I saw the pier.

I stopped in my tracks. Stewart and Jade stopped beside me, staring ahead. 

Giant, orange flames roared ferociously up the wood, disintegrating it into ash. The heat was astounding, even standing here it felt like an oven. A group of people, presumably trying to put it out, had decided that they should get help and they ran off in a completely separate direction to us. All I could do was stand in absolute awe and horror at the scene before me. My friends were doing the exact same.

No one could move.

Which, I suppose, is how the police caught us.

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Author guidance for This exercise

This is a CLOSED collab between myself, xkatiesheperd, babyrhinos, Kiri and MotherMary.

MotherMary who wrote for Rhea has unfortunately dropped

This is a spinnoff from the successful collab Typicαℓ Tєєηagєrs - http://www.protagonize.com/story/typic-tagrs

Characters

Name: Jane (Jan) Metcalfe
Age: 18
Appearance: Tall, with an hour glass figure which she loves to flaunt when she is wearing her bikini on the beach. She has pin straight chestnut brown hair down to her waist and brown eyes with large naturally black eyelashes and unblemished olive toned complexion.
Personality: Sweet and caring with a nice word to say about anyone. Dispite being highly popular in sixthform and friends with everyone and very beautiful inside and out she still hasnt found 'mr right for her' and many of the people she has dated only liked her for her outward beauty. She mainly hangs out with her two best friends Hananh and Nate who she has known since she started she started secondry school.
Other: She has just finished sixthform and has applied for university and is still waiting for any offers, Jane decided to get a part time summer job in an ice cream shop to earn some money for university.
Author - ImprintedHeart

Name: Joe Hardy
Age: 19
Appearance: Huge, not fat, but huge. Very muscular, looks like a warrior in every aspect. Has short black hair and one sleeve-like tattoo on his left arm.
Personality: Quiet; the rest to be discovered
Mini-Biography: To be discovered within the story.
Author - babyrhinos

Name: Nathaniel-Kai Avery (friends call him Nate)
Age: 18
Appearance: 6ft2, shaggy blond hair, blue eyes, muscular from sports, tanned from being outside, good-looking.
Personality: He's spontaneous, carefree, open, optimistic, friendly, smiley and reckless.
Other: Nate's a very good surfer, he's also very outdoorsey and climbs, walks, swims and kayaks. He lives with his Mum, Dad [Naomi & Paul], older brother [Peter] and younger sister [Lillia] in a house 5 minutes jog from the edge of the seaside town.
He's just finished school and hoping to spend the next year in Bali where he'd surf but his plans fell through when surfing was banned in Bali after too many shark-attacks. Now he's spending the summer with his friends and hopes to find a job and apply to university for the following year.
Nate had been going out with Hannah but they split on amicable terms when Nate realised he was going to Bali, now his plans are ruined and he wonders if he can rekindle their relationship before she moves on to someone else.
Author - Kiri

Name: Hannah Summers
Age: 17
Appearance: She's tall and slim with naturally wavy light blonde hair and green eyes. She has an ivory skin tone, but plans to get a tan during the summer. She's very feminine and is always putting on a happy face.
Personality: She's laid-back and puts having a good time ahead of education. She's just finished her A levels but hasn't applied for University. She loves parties and having fun. However, she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life, hates the idea of looking for a full-time job.
Other: She lives alone with her father and younger sister after her mother died when she was just twelve. The death of her mother did affect her, but she doesn't let on to this much. She keeps a picture of her mum in a locket around her neck. Her father loves her dearly but has told her she needs to knuckle down and start earning some money of her own instead of living off his. Her sister is five years old and is always asking about her mum. She went through a bit of a rebellious phase where she mixed in with the wrong crowd, but has passed that now.
Author - xkatieshephard

Name: Rhea Padgett: think Allison Reynolds (the basket case) of The Breakfast Club. Yes, Rhea is "that girl", the loner. Probably voted Most Likely to Bring a Gun to School in high school. However, if you take the time to get to know her AND get past the exterior persona, she'll do anything to help her friends and keep them happy. She kind of wants to get over the loner thing and meet people in college, but isn't sure how.
Age: 18
Author: MotherMary

Name: Stewart Benjamin Morrison
Age: 18
Appearance: Brown hair which is jelled into little spikes. Big bushy brown eyebrows with beautiful hazel eyes.
Personality: One of those guys who isnt afraid to walk around topless, flaunting his well toned arms and body. Works very hard to keep himself looking his best.
Has just broken up from his long term girlfriend as Stewart has decidedto go off to uni.
Decided to visit the small seaside town with a group of his friends as it will be their last summer together before they all go off to university and they want to make the most of it.
Author - ImprintedHeart

Name: Jade Green
Age: 17
Appearance: A very petite girl standing at 5ft1, she has long curly brown hair and a tanned face from spending so much time outside. She has brown eyes and smiles easily. She looks younger than 17 but acts her age. If she were described in one word it would be 'cute'.
Personality: Jade puts up at being teased by her friends about her height but takes it all in her stride. She has an infectious laugh and smiles easily. She's very clever for her age and hopes to pursue a career in medicine. Jade is liked by everyone, her character is infectious and she's very bubbly.
Other: Jade has two older brothers who are in their thirties. She lives with her Aunt as her parents travel around a lot in their careers. She enjoys swimming, swimming for her school team. She also keeps fit by going for mile longs runs every morning. Jade has come to the seaside town with her friends to celebrate their secondary school freedom before starting med school.
Author - Kiri

Name: Charlie Mathers
Age: 18
Appearance: Unique. Shoulder length jet black hair with a shaved side. Flesh tunnels in both ears and wears black rimmed square glasses. Ivory skin complexion and dark eyes. Roughly 5 foot 11. Sticks to the jeans and checked shirts.
Personality: He sometimes receives a bit of stick for his appearance but he doesn't care. He's the type to rebel, to get into all sorts of trouble just because he can. He's sarcastic, charming and always up for a laugh. Has always wanted to get into the music business.
Author - xkatieshephard

Name: Michael Gulch
Age: 17
Appearance: Black hair, pretty small
Personality: Super quiet, secluded, very insecure
Mini-Bio: To be revealed..
Author babyrhinos

Name: Rian Nicholson
Age: 18
Appearance: Messy brown hair which and hazel eyes.
Personality: Has always acted very camp and mainly hangs out with girls. Very outgoing and sometimes overfriendly. Waiting for the perfect man for him
Author - ImprintedHeart

Name: Tyler Fielding
Age: 18
Appearance: Tall and tanned. He goes to the gym a lot, and has a muscular body. Dark brown hair and green eyes. He's a good looking lad, but he knows this.
Personality: A bit of a troublemaker, has a 'bad guy' reputation, popular with the girls. Has always had a thing for Hannah though. He puts on a brave face as his parents aren't around but secretly resents them for it. Rich, mainly cos of the guilt money his mum and dad give him, always throwing parties. Loves having fun, doesn't take life too seriously. Not a good enemy to have, he'll make your life hell if he doesn't like you.
Other: As an only child and two hard-working parents that put their job ahead of their son, he's used to being alone. He likes to have a good time, to make up for his messed up past.

updated Feb 13 by ImprintedHeart